Revised Common Lectionary

Please note that two distinct lectionaries are provided on this page: the two-year Daily Lectionary from the Book of Common Worship and the three-year Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) for Sundays and festivals; be sure you select the appropriate one.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, August 5, 2018, the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

26When the wife of
Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made
lamentation for him. 27When the mourning was over, David
sent and brought her to his house, and she became his
wife, and bore him a son.

1But the thing that
David had done displeased the LORD, and the LORD sent
Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him,
"There were two men in a certain city, one rich and
the other poor. 2The
rich man had very many flocks and herds; 3but the poor man had nothing but
one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it
up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it
used to eat of his meagre fare, and drink from his cup,
and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.
4Now there came a
traveller to the rich man, and he was loath to take one
of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who
had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb, and
prepared that for the guest who had come to him."
5Then David's anger
was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan,
"As the LORD lives, the man who has done this
deserves to die; 6he
shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this
thing, and because he had no pity."

7Nathan said to David,
"You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of
Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued
you from the hand of Saul; 8I gave you your master's
house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and
gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that
had been too little, I would have added as much more.
9Why have you despised
the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight?
You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword,
and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed
him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Now therefore the sword shall
never depart from your house, for you have despised me,
and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your
wife. 11Thus says the
LORD: I will raise up trouble against you from within
your own house; and I will take your wives before your
eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie
with your wives in the sight of this very sun.
12For you did it
secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and
before the sun." 13David said to Nathan, "I
have sinned against the LORD."

Psalm 51:1-12

1Have mercy on me, O
God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

blot out my transgressions.

2Wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

3For I know my
transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

4Against you, you
alone, have I sinned,

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are justified in your sentence

and blameless when you pass judgment.

5Indeed, I was born
guilty,

a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6You desire truth in
the inward being;

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

7Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8Let me hear joy and
gladness;

let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.

9Hide your face from my
sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

10Create in me a clean
heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

11Do not cast me away
from your presence,

and do not take your holy spirit from me.

12Restore to me the joy
of your salvation,

and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Second Reading Ephesians 4:1-16

1I therefore, the
prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of
the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3making every effort to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4There is one body and
one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of
your calling, 5one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is
above all and through all and in all.

7But each of us was
given grace according to the measure of Christ's
gift. 8Therefore it is
said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity
itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people."
9(When it says,
"He ascended", what does it mean but that he
had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10He who descended is
the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so
that he might fill all things.) 11The gifts he gave were that some
would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some
pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work
of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13until all of us come
to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature
of Christ. 14We must no
longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by
every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by
their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15But speaking the truth in love,
we must grow up in every way into him who is the head,
into Christ, 16from
whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every
ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is
working properly, promotes the body's growth in
building itself up in love.

Gospel John 6:24-35

24So when the crowd saw
that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they
themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum
looking for Jesus.

25When they found him
on the other side of the lake, they said to him,
"Rabbi, when did you come here?" 26Jesus answered them, "Very
truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because
you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the
loaves. 27Do not work
for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures
for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For
it is on him that God the Father has set his seal."
28Then they said to
him, "What must we do to perform the works of
God?" 29Jesus
answered them, "This is the work of God, that you
believe in him whom he has sent." 30So they said to him, "What
sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it
and believe you? What work are you performing?
31Our ancestors ate the
manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave
them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32Then Jesus said to them,
"Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave
you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives
you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is that
which comes down from heaven and gives life to the
world." 34They
said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."

35Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will
never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty."